tether
Performance series, 1 hour
Performance Club
September 7-11, 2024
I make chirping sounds at Saba and her ears flick toward me for a split second each time I emit the high pitched, sharp little sound.
Saba paws at me to insist that I pet her chest and belly. She licks my forearm when I comply.
I first performed with my dog Saba in the fall of 2024. Saba and I practiced for weeks leading up to Performance Club. I knew Saba was not the kind of dog to do tricks, and I was not the type of person to teach a dog tricks. I was thinking about the existence of death, god, paradise, human loathing and discontent. I wondered how to be in the world the way an animal or a plant is and of being a present patient witness of time and the rhythms of life, of stepping off man’s chosen path of capitalist destruction.
tether
Durational performance, 5 hours
Visual Arts Center - Acceleration Without Arrival
May 3, 2025
My performance with Saba began about trying to rediscover connection to self, to time and to the earth through our relationship together. We began by running in circles tethered together with Saba’s leash. It required a lot of hyping and coaxing Saba to run in the way that I wanted her to. I cheered and yelled and hopped around to get her excited to keep her running with me in a circle. Eventually one of us would tire or give up. I would take the leash and harness off of her, and invite her to play. In our play duet we chase, jump on and tease each other. We break apart, Saba choosing where to take some solo time, while I perform a slow-motion, butoh-inspired movement solo in which I embody the confusion, longing and horror of being on man’s destructive path. Saba wanders away and comes back as she wishes but never lets me out of sight or earshot. My release and trust of her draws us closer together.
tether
2-channel video installation at Visual Arts Center - Acceleration Without Arrival thesis exhibition
Dimensions variable
Live grass, monitors, iPad, iPhone, speaker, media players, photographic prints, found objects, dog toys, dog fur, human hair, park benches, aura photograph, pet psychic session, field recordings, performance, charcoal drawing, bones
2025
for more information, see my thesis report To sit with a dog
Throughout our rehearsals and performances we spend more time together than we ever have. I pay a special kind of attention to Saba that deepens our connection, an intentional present focus that I always direct towards my collaborators. I end the performance by cradling her empty leash and harness draped over my outstretched arms, steadfastly running in circles until I am exhausted and panting. I don’t stop running until an alarm-like bird call sounds at fifteen minutes exactly. At fifteen minutes I stop running, gather my notebook, pen and water, and rest in the field. I unroll a long scroll and set out drawing utensils to invite the audience into one way of engaging with the moment at hand. I breathe and wait to stop sweating. Some people come and sit with me or talk to me. Some draw, dance, stretch, lay, chat amongst themselves, sit and watch, feel awkward, take a nap, pet Saba, leave early.
tether
Performance, 15 minutes
DORF Gallery - Dog Days of Summer
September 6, 2025